PAT RAM & ORS. Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants who are father and the sons respectively stand convicted under Sec. 302/34 I.P.C. to life imprisonment with fine and default stipulation by the Additional Sessions Judge No. 2, Hanumangarh in Sessions Trial No. 64/1986 dated 26.9.1989.

(2.) The deceased Vidya Devi while returning to her own village on 11.8.1986 accompanied by her minor son PW-1, Lalchand aged about 13 years, after attending a condolence meeting for the death of a relative is alleged to have been dragged by the Appellants to their fields about 30 pm. The witness ran home to inform his father PW-2, Jagram who came to the place of occurrence accompanied by PW-3, Gangaram, uncle of the deceased. The dead body lay in the fields of the Appellants. F.I.R. Exhibit P-l was then lodged by PW-2, Jagram at 8.15 pm that Appellant No. 1 assaulted with a 'sabal' while other two had kassiya' in their hands. The third son Puran Ram had a lathi whose trial came to be separated as a juvenile. The postmortem of the deceased, Exhibit P-13 was conducted on 18.1986 by PW-6, Dr. Sahi Ram who found four stab wounds of the varying sizes on the back, lower left thigh, below the left knee and middle of the left leg. There were also about 12 incised wounds of varying sizes on different parts of the body coupled with abrasions and lacerated wounds opining that death occurred due to as physic caused by compression of neck due to throttling associated with shock due to external hemorrhage caused by multiple injuries and fractures.

(3.) Learned Counsel for the Appellants submitted that they are not the assailants and have been falsely implicated only because the dead body was found in their fields. There is no eye-witness to the assault. PW-1, Lalchand is a child witness not reliable at all as he has made conflicting statements. In any event he was only witness to the deceased having been dragged into the fields but not to any assault. The witness has further admitted that there was no pre-existing enmity between the parties. There was thus no motive for the assault. The Trial Judge has disbelieved that PW-2, Jagram and PW-3, Gangaram were eye-witnesses to the assault holding that a minimum travelling time up and down from the place of assault to the house of the witness was 40-45 minutes. the assault could not have continued that long since PW-1, Lalchand went home in formed PW-2, Jagram who then came accompanied by PW-3, Gangaram. Yet without any material in support of the same, it has been held that nonetheless the Appellants kept standing near the body for 45 minutes after they had fatally vaulted the deceased till the two witnesses came, which is a highly unnatural conduct. The Trial Judge has erred in relying upon the same witnesses whom he simultaneously held to be unreliable.